Peter Breggin
Encyclopedia
Peter Roger Breggin is an American
psychiatrist
and critic of biological psychiatry
and psychiatric medication
. In his books, he advocates replacing psychiatry's use of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy
with humanistic
approaches, such as psychotherapy
, education
, and broader human services.
Breggin is the author of several books which are critical of modern psychiatry, including Toxic Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac and Talking Back to Ritalin. His most recent book, Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry, discusses medication spellbinding (in which patients who are doing worse after treatment fail to see that they are doing worse or recognize why), the adverse effects of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the hazards of diagnosing and medicating children, the psychopharmaceutical complex, and guidelines for psychotherapy and counseling.
Breggin now lives in the Finger Lakes
Region of Central New York
and practices psychiatry in Ithaca, New York
.
with honors, and attended Case Western Reserve
Medical School. His postgraduate training in psychiatry began with an internship year of mixed medicine and psychiatry at the State University of New York
(SUNY) Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse
. Breggin completed a first year of psychiatric residency at Harvard's Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston, where he was a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School
, and finished his final two years of psychiatric residency at SUNY. This was followed by a two-year staff appointment to the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH), where he worked to build and staff mental health centers and education. Breggin has taught at several universities, obtaining faculty appointments to the Washington School of Psychiatry, the Johns Hopkins University
Department of Counseling, and the George Mason University
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Breggin has worked in a private practice since 1968.
Breggin is a life member of the American Psychiatric Association
and an editor for several scientific journals. His opinions have been portrayed both favorably and unfavorably in the media, including Time Magazine and the New York Times. He has appeared as a guest on many radio and television shows, including 60 Minutes, 20/20, Nightline, and numerous network news reports.
. He wrote dozens of other articles, several book chapters, and more than twenty books. Many of Breggin's more recent articles are published in the peer-reviewed journal he co-founded with David Cohen and Steven Baldwin, Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, and in the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine as well as in other scientific journals such as Primary Psychiatry (2006), and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2000). Breggin wrote his first peer-reviewed articles in the arena of psychopharmacology in 1964 and 1965. Many of his published articles discuss psychiatric medication, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval process, the evaluation of clinical trials, and the ethics of psychiatric practice. According to the Web of Science
, Breggin's work has been cited by more than 700 publications, with an h-index
of 20.
In 1971, Breggin founded the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP), a nonprofit research and educational network. The center is concerned with the impact of mental health
theory and practices upon individual well-being, personal freedom, and family and community values. As of July 2008, the center has a board of directors composed of 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors
and other professionals in the mental health field. The center holds annual scientific conferences that are open to the public. In 1999, the Center began to publish Ethical Human Sciences and Services (EHSS), which was later renamed Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. The peer-reviewed journal is published by Springer Publishing Company (no affiliation with Springer Verlag), and "is the official journal of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry". The stated goal of EHSS is to, "raise the level of scientific knowledge and ethical discourse, while empowering professionals who are devoted to principled human sciences and services unsullied by professional and economic interests." According to the Scopus
database, since its inception the most citation
s it has received in a year is 13. In 2002, Breggin encouraged younger professionals to take over the leadership of ICSPP and Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. Peter Breggin is not currently on the Board of Directors of ICSPP, does not participate in board meetings, and has no role within the organization.
While he's not conducted clinical drug trials, Breggin's critiques and reviews of the scientific literature are published in peer-reviewed journals such as Primary Psychiatry, Brain and Cognition, Mind and Behavior, and the Archives of General Psychiatry.
s, arguing that the harmful side effects typically outweigh any benefit. Breggin also argues that psychosocial interventions are almost always superior in treating mental illness. He has argued against psychoactive drug
s, electroshock (ECT), psychosurgery
, coercive involuntary treatment
, and biological theories of psychiatry
.
According to Breggin, the pharmaceutical industry propagates disinformation which is accepted by unsuspecting doctors, saying "the psychiatrist accepts the bad science that establishes the existence of all these mental diseases in the first place. From there it’s just a walk down the street to all the drugs as remedies". He points out problems with conflicts-of-interest (such as the financial relationships between drug companies, researchers, and the American Psychiatric Association
). Breggin states psychiatric drugs, "...are all, every class of them, highly dangerous". He asserts: "If neuroleptics were used to treat anyone other than mental patients, they would have been banned a long time ago. If their use wasn't supported by powerful interest groups, such as the pharmaceutical industry and organized psychiatry, they would be rarely used at all. Meanwhile, the neuroleptics have produced the worst epidemic of neurological disease in history. At the least, their use should be severely curtailed."
In his book, Reclaiming Our Children, he calls for the ethical treatment of children. Breggin argues that the mistreatment of children
is a national (U.S.) tragedy, including psychiatric diagnoses and prescription of drugs for children whose needs were not otherwise met. He especially objects to prescribing psychiatric medications to children, arguing that it distracts from their real needs in the family and schools, and is potentially harmful to their developing brain
s and nervous system
s.
has labeled Breggin as the nation's best-known Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) critic. As early as 1991 he sardonically coined the acronym DADD, stating, "...most so-called ADHD children are not receiving sufficient attention from their fathers who are separated from the family, too preoccupied with work and other things, or otherwise impaired in their ability to parent. In many cases the appropriate diagnosis is Dad Attention Deficit Disorder (DADD)". Breggin has written two books specifically on the topic entitled, Talking Back to Ritalin and The Ritalin Factbook. In these books he has made controversial claims, such as "Ritalin 'works' by producing malfunctions in the brain rather than by improving brain function. This is the only way it works".
Together with Fred Baughman
, Breggin testified about ADHD to the United States Congress
. In Congress Breggin claimed "that there were no scientific studies validating ADHD", that children diagnosed with ADHD needed "discipline and better instruction" rather than psychiatric drugs, and that therapeutic stimulants "are the most addictive
drugs known in medicine today." Baughman and Breggin were also the major critics in a PBS
Frontline TV series about ADHD entitled 'Medicating Kids'. In an interview during this time period he referred to ADHD as a fiction. This increased critical attention to Ritalin resulted in the Ritalin class action lawsuits
against Novartis
, the American Psychiatric Association
(APA), and CHADD in which the plaintiffs sued for fraud. Specifically, they charged that the defendants had conspired to invent and promote the disorder ADHD to create a highly profitable market for the drug Ritalin. All five lawsuits were dismissed or withdrawn before they went to trial.
Breggin has been very critical of psychologist Russell Barkley
's work on ADHD claiming that he exaggerates the benefits of stimulants and minimizes their hazards.
s on SSRIs, warning of an association between SSRI use and suicidal behavior in children, and later extended it to young adults. New general warnings were added along with the aforementioned black box warnings. These warnings confirmed many of the adverse effects first emphasized by Breggin in Toxic Psychiatry with specific mentions by the FDA of drug-induced "hostility," "irritability," and "mania". In 2006, the FDA expanded the warnings to include adults taking Paxil, which is associated with a higher risk of suicidal behavior as compared to a placebo
.
In contrast to Breggin's Talking Back to Prozac, which was largely ignored by the press on its release, Prozac Backlash, a critique of SSRIs by Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen was widely praised by high-profile media sources. Breggin complained about this in a subsequent book, The Antidepressant Fact Book:
In 1994, Breggin said that Eli Lilly and Company
(maker of the antidepressant
Prozac
) attempted to discredit him and his book Talking Back to Prozac by linking him to the Church of Scientology and labeling his views as "Neo-Scientology." Breggin denied any connection to Scientology. Breggin later clarified that he was still in agreement with some of CCHR's anti-psychiatric views, supporting Tom Cruise
's public stance against psychiatry.
so severe that patients can't fully experience depression
or other higher mental functions during the several weeks after electroshock". He was one of nineteen speakers at the 1985 NIH Consensus Development Conference on ECT. The Consensus panel (of which Breggin was not a member) found that ECT could be a useful therapy in some carefully defined cases.
In South Carolina
, Breggin testified on behalf of Peggy S. Salters, a psychiatric nurse who sued her doctors and Palmetto Baptist Hospital after ECT left her incapacitated in 2000. A jury found in favor of her and awarded her $635,177 in actual damages.
Breggin testified as an expert witness
in the Wesbecker case (Fentress et al., 1994), a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, makers of Prozac. Ultimately, the jury found for Eli Lilly. Breggin later claimed that this was because the plaintiffs and defendants had secretly settled behind closed doors. The Supreme Court of Kentucky concluded that the Wesbecker trial had been secretly settled by Eli Lilly before going to the jury in return for defendants presenting a weakened case that was bound to lose. Trial Judge Potter was empowered by the Kentucky Supreme Court to change the verdict from a jury verdict in favor of Eli Lilly to "settled with prejudice" by Eli Lilly.
Breggin alleges that pharmaceutical manufacturers, particularly Eli Lilly, have committed ad hominem
attacks upon him in the form of linking him to Scientology
campaigns against psychiatric drugs. Breggin acknowledges that he did work with Scientology starting in 1972, but states that by 1974 he "found opposed to Scientology's values, agenda, and tactics", and in consequence "stopped all cooperative efforts in 1974 and publicly declared criticism of the group in a letter published in Reason
." Breggin has also stated that he has a personal reason to dislike Scientology: His wife, Ginger, was once a Scientologist, and when they first met she was urged by other Scientologists to have no association with him because he was not also.
Several judges have questioned Breggin's credibility as an expert witness. For example, a Maryland judge in a medical malpractice case in 1995 said, "I believe that his bias in this case is blinding... he was mistaken in a lot of the factual basis for which he expressed his opinion." In that same year a Virginia judge excluded Breggin's testimony stating, "This court finds that the evidence of Peter Breggin, as a purported expert, fails nearly all particulars under the standard set forth in Daubert and its progeny.... Simply put, the Court believes that Dr. Breggin's opinions do not rise to the level of an opinion based on 'good science.'"
In 2002, Breggin was hired as an expert witness by a survivor of the Columbine High School massacre
in a case against the makers of an anti-depressant drug. In his report, Breggin failed to mention the Columbine incident or one of the killers, instead focusing on the medication taken by the other, "...Eric Harris
was suffering from a substance induced (Luvox-induced) mood disorder with depressive and manic features that had reached a psychotic level of violence and suicide. Absent persistent exposure to Luvox, Eric Harris probably would not have committed violence and suicide." However, according to The Denver Post
, the judge of the case "...was visibly angry that the experts failed to view evidence prior to their depositions" even though they had months to do so. The evidence would have included hundreds of documents including a significant amount of video and audio tape that the killers had recorded. The judge stated, "...lawyers will be free to attack them on the basis of the evidence they haven't seen and haven't factored into their opinions." The lawsuit was eventually dropped with the stipulation that the makers of Luvox donate $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.
In 2005, the Philadelphia County
Court of Common Pleas
disqualified the testimony of Breggin because it did not meet the scientific rigor established by the Frye standard
. The judge stated "...Breggin spends 14 pages critiquing the treatment provided not because it ran counter to the acceptable standards of care, but because it ran counter to Breggin's personal ideas and ideologies of what the standards ought to be.”
problems. These claims often challenge accepted standards of care within the mental health field and have led to highly critical rebuttals. In 1994, the president of the American Psychiatric Association
called Breggin a "flat-earther
" (suggesting he embraced outdated theories); the head of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI) called Breggin "ignorant"; and the former head of the National Institute of Mental Health
called him an "outlaw."
In 1987, NAMI brought a complaint against Breggin with licensure board of the State of Maryland. NAMI was upset about remarks he made on the Oprah Winfrey Show on April 2, 1987. On the TV show, Breggin stated that mental health clients should judge their clinicians in terms of their empathy and support; if they failed to show interest in them and tried to prescribe drugs during the first session, he advised such clients to seek assistance elsewhere. He also pointed out the iatrogenic effects of neuroleptic drugs. He was defended by a diverse group of psychiatrists and others who defended his right to publicly state his critical opinion. Breggin was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Maryland
medical board, which thanked him for his contribution to mental health in Maryland. Time magazine has noted that other mental health professionals worry that "Breggin reinforces the myth that mental illness is not real, that you wouldn't be ill if you'd pull yourself up by the bootstraps...his views stop people from getting treatment. They could cost a life." However, an emphasis on a purely biological explanation of mental illness has been associated with an increase in stigma of by various studies.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and critic of biological psychiatry
Biological psychiatry
Biological psychiatry, or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience, psychopharmacology, biochemistry, genetics and...
and psychiatric medication
Psychiatric medication
A psychiatric medication is a licensed psychoactive drug taken to exert an effect on the mental state and used to treat mental disorders. Usually prescribed in psychiatric settings, these medications are typically made of synthetic chemical compounds, although some are naturally occurring, or at...
. In his books, he advocates replacing psychiatry's use of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
with humanistic
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
approaches, such as psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and broader human services.
Breggin is the author of several books which are critical of modern psychiatry, including Toxic Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac and Talking Back to Ritalin. His most recent book, Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry, discusses medication spellbinding (in which patients who are doing worse after treatment fail to see that they are doing worse or recognize why), the adverse effects of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the hazards of diagnosing and medicating children, the psychopharmaceutical complex, and guidelines for psychotherapy and counseling.
Breggin now lives in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
Region of Central New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and practices psychiatry in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
.
Education and early career
Breggin graduated from Harvard CollegeHarvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
with honors, and attended Case Western Reserve
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
Medical School. His postgraduate training in psychiatry began with an internship year of mixed medicine and psychiatry at the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
(SUNY) Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. Breggin completed a first year of psychiatric residency at Harvard's Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston, where he was a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, and finished his final two years of psychiatric residency at SUNY. This was followed by a two-year staff appointment to the National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...
(NIMH), where he worked to build and staff mental health centers and education. Breggin has taught at several universities, obtaining faculty appointments to the Washington School of Psychiatry, the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
Department of Counseling, and the George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Breggin has worked in a private practice since 1968.
Breggin is a life member of the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
and an editor for several scientific journals. His opinions have been portrayed both favorably and unfavorably in the media, including Time Magazine and the New York Times. He has appeared as a guest on many radio and television shows, including 60 Minutes, 20/20, Nightline, and numerous network news reports.
Research and publications
Since 1964, Breggin has published on his major topic of interest, clinical psychopharmacologyPsychopharmacology
Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior...
. He wrote dozens of other articles, several book chapters, and more than twenty books. Many of Breggin's more recent articles are published in the peer-reviewed journal he co-founded with David Cohen and Steven Baldwin, Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, and in the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine as well as in other scientific journals such as Primary Psychiatry (2006), and the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2000). Breggin wrote his first peer-reviewed articles in the arena of psychopharmacology in 1964 and 1965. Many of his published articles discuss psychiatric medication, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval process, the evaluation of clinical trials, and the ethics of psychiatric practice. According to the Web of Science
Web of Science
ISI Web of Knowledge is an academic citation indexing and search service, which is combined with web linking and provided by Thomson Reuters. Web of Knowledge coverage encompasses the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. It provides bibliographic content and the tools to access, analyze,...
, Breggin's work has been cited by more than 700 publications, with an h-index
H-index
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications...
of 20.
In 1971, Breggin founded the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP), a nonprofit research and educational network. The center is concerned with the impact of mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
theory and practices upon individual well-being, personal freedom, and family and community values. As of July 2008, the center has a board of directors composed of 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors
Licensed Professional Counselor
Licensed professional counselor is a licensure for mental health professionals. The exact title varies by state, but the other most frequently used title is licensed mental health counselor . Several U.S. states, including Illinois, Maine, and Tennessee, have implemented a two-tier system whereby...
and other professionals in the mental health field. The center holds annual scientific conferences that are open to the public. In 1999, the Center began to publish Ethical Human Sciences and Services (EHSS), which was later renamed Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. The peer-reviewed journal is published by Springer Publishing Company (no affiliation with Springer Verlag), and "is the official journal of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry". The stated goal of EHSS is to, "raise the level of scientific knowledge and ethical discourse, while empowering professionals who are devoted to principled human sciences and services unsullied by professional and economic interests." According to the Scopus
Scopus
Scopus, officially named SciVerse Scopus, is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles. It covers nearly 18,000 titles from over 5,000 international publishers, including coverage of 16,500 peer-reviewed journals in the scientific, technical, medical,...
database, since its inception the most citation
Citation
Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source . More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated...
s it has received in a year is 13. In 2002, Breggin encouraged younger professionals to take over the leadership of ICSPP and Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. Peter Breggin is not currently on the Board of Directors of ICSPP, does not participate in board meetings, and has no role within the organization.
While he's not conducted clinical drug trials, Breggin's critiques and reviews of the scientific literature are published in peer-reviewed journals such as Primary Psychiatry, Brain and Cognition, Mind and Behavior, and the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Criticism of conventional psychiatry
A large portion of Breggin's work concentrates on the iatrogenic effects (negative side effects) of psychiatric medicationPsychiatric medication
A psychiatric medication is a licensed psychoactive drug taken to exert an effect on the mental state and used to treat mental disorders. Usually prescribed in psychiatric settings, these medications are typically made of synthetic chemical compounds, although some are naturally occurring, or at...
s, arguing that the harmful side effects typically outweigh any benefit. Breggin also argues that psychosocial interventions are almost always superior in treating mental illness. He has argued against psychoactive drug
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
s, electroshock (ECT), psychosurgery
Psychosurgery
Psychosurgery, also called neurosurgery for mental disorder , is the neurosurgical treatment of mental disorder. Psychosurgery has always been a controversial medical field. The modern history of psychosurgery begins in the 1880s under the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt...
, coercive involuntary treatment
Outpatient commitment
Outpatient commitment refers to mental health law that allows the compulsory, community-based treatment of individuals with mental illness.In the United States the term "assisted outpatient treatment" or "AOT" is often used and refers to a process whereby a judge orders a qualifying person with...
, and biological theories of psychiatry
Biological psychiatry
Biological psychiatry, or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience, psychopharmacology, biochemistry, genetics and...
.
According to Breggin, the pharmaceutical industry propagates disinformation which is accepted by unsuspecting doctors, saying "the psychiatrist accepts the bad science that establishes the existence of all these mental diseases in the first place. From there it’s just a walk down the street to all the drugs as remedies". He points out problems with conflicts-of-interest (such as the financial relationships between drug companies, researchers, and the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
). Breggin states psychiatric drugs, "...are all, every class of them, highly dangerous". He asserts: "If neuroleptics were used to treat anyone other than mental patients, they would have been banned a long time ago. If their use wasn't supported by powerful interest groups, such as the pharmaceutical industry and organized psychiatry, they would be rarely used at all. Meanwhile, the neuroleptics have produced the worst epidemic of neurological disease in history. At the least, their use should be severely curtailed."
In his book, Reclaiming Our Children, he calls for the ethical treatment of children. Breggin argues that the mistreatment of children
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
is a national (U.S.) tragedy, including psychiatric diagnoses and prescription of drugs for children whose needs were not otherwise met. He especially objects to prescribing psychiatric medications to children, arguing that it distracts from their real needs in the family and schools, and is potentially harmful to their developing brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s and nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
s.
Criticism of ADHD and Ritalin
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
has labeled Breggin as the nation's best-known Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone" and symptoms starting before seven years of age.ADHD is the most commonly studied and...
(ADHD) critic. As early as 1991 he sardonically coined the acronym DADD, stating, "...most so-called ADHD children are not receiving sufficient attention from their fathers who are separated from the family, too preoccupied with work and other things, or otherwise impaired in their ability to parent. In many cases the appropriate diagnosis is Dad Attention Deficit Disorder (DADD)". Breggin has written two books specifically on the topic entitled, Talking Back to Ritalin and The Ritalin Factbook. In these books he has made controversial claims, such as "Ritalin 'works' by producing malfunctions in the brain rather than by improving brain function. This is the only way it works".
Together with Fred Baughman
Fred Baughman
Fred Baughman is best known as an outspoken critic of psychiatry, who claims that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is "a fraud perpetrated by the psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries on families anxious to understand their childrens' behavior". Baughman has testified before the...
, Breggin testified about ADHD to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. In Congress Breggin claimed "that there were no scientific studies validating ADHD", that children diagnosed with ADHD needed "discipline and better instruction" rather than psychiatric drugs, and that therapeutic stimulants "are the most addictive
Substance use disorder
Substance use disorders include substance abuse and substance dependence. In DSM-IV, the conditions are formally diagnosed as one or the other, but it has been proposed that DSM-5 combine the two into a single condition called "Substance-use disorder"....
drugs known in medicine today." Baughman and Breggin were also the major critics in a PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
Frontline TV series about ADHD entitled 'Medicating Kids'. In an interview during this time period he referred to ADHD as a fiction. This increased critical attention to Ritalin resulted in the Ritalin class action lawsuits
Ritalin class action lawsuits
The Ritalin Class action lawsuits were a series of federal lawsuits in 2000, filed in five separate U.S. states. All five lawsuits were dismissed by the end of 2002. The lawsuits alleged that the makers of Methylphenidate and the American Psychiatric Association had conspired to invent and promote...
against Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
, the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
(APA), and CHADD in which the plaintiffs sued for fraud. Specifically, they charged that the defendants had conspired to invent and promote the disorder ADHD to create a highly profitable market for the drug Ritalin. All five lawsuits were dismissed or withdrawn before they went to trial.
Breggin has been very critical of psychologist Russell Barkley
Russell Barkley
Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., is a Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University...
's work on ADHD claiming that he exaggerates the benefits of stimulants and minimizes their hazards.
Criticism of SSRI antidepressants
In the early 1990s, Breggin suggested there were problems with the methodology in the research of SSRI antidepressants. As early as 1991 in Talking Back to Prozac, he warned that Prozac was causing violence, suicide and mania. Breggin elaborated on this theme in many subsequent books and articles about newer antidepressants. In 2005, the FDA began requiring black box warningBlack box warning
In the United States, a black box warning is a type of warning that appears on the package insert for prescription drugs that may cause serious adverse effects...
s on SSRIs, warning of an association between SSRI use and suicidal behavior in children, and later extended it to young adults. New general warnings were added along with the aforementioned black box warnings. These warnings confirmed many of the adverse effects first emphasized by Breggin in Toxic Psychiatry with specific mentions by the FDA of drug-induced "hostility," "irritability," and "mania". In 2006, the FDA expanded the warnings to include adults taking Paxil, which is associated with a higher risk of suicidal behavior as compared to a placebo
Placebo
A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient...
.
In contrast to Breggin's Talking Back to Prozac, which was largely ignored by the press on its release, Prozac Backlash, a critique of SSRIs by Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen was widely praised by high-profile media sources. Breggin complained about this in a subsequent book, The Antidepressant Fact Book:
- "Glenmullen's (2000) scientific analysis of how SSRIs can cause suicide, violence, and other behavioral aberrations is essentially the same as my earlier detailed analyses... my hundreds of media appearances, and my testimony in court cases that Glenmullen also had available. Glenmullen also interviewed my wife and coauthor Ginger Breggin for his book and was sent research documents from our files that he was otherwise unable to obtain. Disappointingly, in his book, Glenmullen literally expurgates our contribution, never mentioning my origination of the ideas he was espousing and never acknowledging my efforts.... Nonetheless, his book provides a service...."
In 1994, Breggin said that Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
(maker of the antidepressant
Antidepressant
An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. According to Gelder, Mayou &*Geddes people with a depressive illness will experience a therapeutic effect to their mood;...
Prozac
Fluoxetine
Fluoxetine is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. It is manufactured and marketed by Eli Lilly and Company...
) attempted to discredit him and his book Talking Back to Prozac by linking him to the Church of Scientology and labeling his views as "Neo-Scientology." Breggin denied any connection to Scientology. Breggin later clarified that he was still in agreement with some of CCHR's anti-psychiatric views, supporting Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
's public stance against psychiatry.
Criticism of ECT
Breggin has written several books and scientific articles critical of electroconvulsive therapy. He claims that "...the damage produces deliriumDelirium
Delirium or acute confusional state is a common and severe neuropsychiatric syndrome with core features of acute onset and fluctuating course, attentional deficits and generalized severe disorganization of behavior...
so severe that patients can't fully experience depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
or other higher mental functions during the several weeks after electroshock". He was one of nineteen speakers at the 1985 NIH Consensus Development Conference on ECT. The Consensus panel (of which Breggin was not a member) found that ECT could be a useful therapy in some carefully defined cases.
Expert witness
On September 16, 2011 in Winnipeg, Canada, a Provincial judge cited Breggin’s testimony in concluding that Prozac caused a sixteen-year-old boy to knife a friend to death, noting that, "Dr. Breggin's explanation of the effect Prozac was having on C.J.P.'s behavior both before that day and in committing an impulsive, inexplicable violent act that day corresponds with the evidence." About the boy, Judge Robert Heinrichs determined, "His basic normalcy now further confirms he no longer poses a risk of violence to anyone and that his mental deterioration and resulting violence would not have taken place without exposure to Prozac."In South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Breggin testified on behalf of Peggy S. Salters, a psychiatric nurse who sued her doctors and Palmetto Baptist Hospital after ECT left her incapacitated in 2000. A jury found in favor of her and awarded her $635,177 in actual damages.
Breggin testified as an expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
in the Wesbecker case (Fentress et al., 1994), a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, makers of Prozac. Ultimately, the jury found for Eli Lilly. Breggin later claimed that this was because the plaintiffs and defendants had secretly settled behind closed doors. The Supreme Court of Kentucky concluded that the Wesbecker trial had been secretly settled by Eli Lilly before going to the jury in return for defendants presenting a weakened case that was bound to lose. Trial Judge Potter was empowered by the Kentucky Supreme Court to change the verdict from a jury verdict in favor of Eli Lilly to "settled with prejudice" by Eli Lilly.
Breggin alleges that pharmaceutical manufacturers, particularly Eli Lilly, have committed ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
attacks upon him in the form of linking him to Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
campaigns against psychiatric drugs. Breggin acknowledges that he did work with Scientology starting in 1972, but states that by 1974 he "found opposed to Scientology's values, agenda, and tactics", and in consequence "stopped all cooperative efforts in 1974 and publicly declared criticism of the group in a letter published in Reason
Reason (magazine)
Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
." Breggin has also stated that he has a personal reason to dislike Scientology: His wife, Ginger, was once a Scientologist, and when they first met she was urged by other Scientologists to have no association with him because he was not also.
Several judges have questioned Breggin's credibility as an expert witness. For example, a Maryland judge in a medical malpractice case in 1995 said, "I believe that his bias in this case is blinding... he was mistaken in a lot of the factual basis for which he expressed his opinion." In that same year a Virginia judge excluded Breggin's testimony stating, "This court finds that the evidence of Peter Breggin, as a purported expert, fails nearly all particulars under the standard set forth in Daubert and its progeny.... Simply put, the Court believes that Dr. Breggin's opinions do not rise to the level of an opinion based on 'good science.'"
In 2002, Breggin was hired as an expert witness by a survivor of the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
in a case against the makers of an anti-depressant drug. In his report, Breggin failed to mention the Columbine incident or one of the killers, instead focusing on the medication taken by the other, "...Eric Harris
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. They killed 13 people—including teacher Dave Sanders—and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack...
was suffering from a substance induced (Luvox-induced) mood disorder with depressive and manic features that had reached a psychotic level of violence and suicide. Absent persistent exposure to Luvox, Eric Harris probably would not have committed violence and suicide." However, according to The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
, the judge of the case "...was visibly angry that the experts failed to view evidence prior to their depositions" even though they had months to do so. The evidence would have included hundreds of documents including a significant amount of video and audio tape that the killers had recorded. The judge stated, "...lawyers will be free to attack them on the basis of the evidence they haven't seen and haven't factored into their opinions." The lawsuit was eventually dropped with the stipulation that the makers of Luvox donate $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.
In 2005, the Philadelphia County
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
-History:Tribes of Lenape were the first known occupants in the area which became Philadelphia County. The first European settlers were Swedes and Finns who arrived in 1638. The Netherlands seized the area in 1655, but permanently lost control to England in 1674...
Court of Common Pleas
Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas
The Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania .The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state....
disqualified the testimony of Breggin because it did not meet the scientific rigor established by the Frye standard
Frye Standard
The Frye standard, Frye test, or general acceptance test is a test to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence. It provides that expert opinion based on a scientific technique is admissible only where the technique is generally accepted as reliable in the relevant scientific community. In...
. The judge stated "...Breggin spends 14 pages critiquing the treatment provided not because it ran counter to the acceptable standards of care, but because it ran counter to Breggin's personal ideas and ideologies of what the standards ought to be.”
Criticism of Breggin
Due to his outspoken criticisms of many aspects of psychiatry, Breggin has become a controversial figure who is regularly at odds with the mental health establishment. He uses terms like "fraud" to describe the biological and genetic theories of mental disorders. He is critical of the medications used to treat these disorders, and the political process that determines the labels used for diagnosing mental disorders. He has also consistently warned about conflict of interestConflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
problems. These claims often challenge accepted standards of care within the mental health field and have led to highly critical rebuttals. In 1994, the president of the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
called Breggin a "flat-earther
Flat Earth
The Flat Earth model is a belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Most ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period ...
" (suggesting he embraced outdated theories); the head of the National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Alliance on Mental Illness
The National Alliance on Mental Illness was founded in 1979 as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. NAMI is a nation-wide American advocacy group, representing families and people affected by mental illness as a non-profit grass roots organization and has affiliates in every American state...
(NAMI) called Breggin "ignorant"; and the former head of the National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...
called him an "outlaw."
In 1987, NAMI brought a complaint against Breggin with licensure board of the State of Maryland. NAMI was upset about remarks he made on the Oprah Winfrey Show on April 2, 1987. On the TV show, Breggin stated that mental health clients should judge their clinicians in terms of their empathy and support; if they failed to show interest in them and tried to prescribe drugs during the first session, he advised such clients to seek assistance elsewhere. He also pointed out the iatrogenic effects of neuroleptic drugs. He was defended by a diverse group of psychiatrists and others who defended his right to publicly state his critical opinion. Breggin was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
medical board, which thanked him for his contribution to mental health in Maryland. Time magazine has noted that other mental health professionals worry that "Breggin reinforces the myth that mental illness is not real, that you wouldn't be ill if you'd pull yourself up by the bootstraps...his views stop people from getting treatment. They could cost a life." However, an emphasis on a purely biological explanation of mental illness has been associated with an increase in stigma of by various studies.
Books
- Breggin, P.R. (2009). Wow, I’m an American! How to Live Like Our Nation’s Heroic Founders. Lake Edge Press. ISBN 9780982456019.
- Breggin, P.R. (2008). Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Breggin, P.R. (2008). Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock and the Psychopharmaceutical Complex, Second Edition. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
- Breggin, P.R. and Cohen, D. (2007). Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications, Second Edition. Cambridge: Perseus Books.
- Breggin, P.R. Breggin, G.R., and Bemak, F. (Editors) (2002). Dimensions of Empathic Therapy. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
- Breggin, P.R. (2002). The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You. Cambridge: Perseus Books.
- Breggin, P.R. (2001). The Anti-Depressant Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Luvox. Cambridge: Perseus Books.
- Breggin, P.R. (2001). Talking Back to Ritalin: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Stimulants and ADHD. Revised. Cambridge: Perseus Books.
- Breggin, P.R. (2000). Reclaiming Our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis. Cambridge: Perseus Books.
- Breggin, P.R. and Ginger, G.R. (1998). The war against children of color. Psychiatry Targets Inner City Youth. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press.
- Breggin, P.R. (1997). The Heart of Being Helpful: Empathy and the Creation of a Healing Presence. New York: Spinger Publishing Company.
- Breggin, P.R. (1992). Beyond Conflict: From Self-Help and Psychotherapy to Peacemaking. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Breggin, P.R. and Breggin, G. R. (1994). Talking Back To Prozac: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Today's Most Controversial Drug. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Breggin, P.R. (1991). Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the "New Psychiatry" New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Breggin, P.R. (1972). After the Good War New York: Stein And Day.
Selected articles
- Breggin, P.R. (2006). Court filing makes public my previously suppressed analysis of Paxil's effects. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 77-84. PMID 16862720
- Breggin, P.R. (2006). How GlaxoSmithKline suppressed data on Paxil-induced akathisia: Implications for suicide and violence. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 91-100, 2006.
- Breggin, P.R. (2006). Drug company suppressed data on paroxetine-induced stimulation: Implications for violence and suicide.” Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 255-263.
- Breggin, P.R. (2006). Intoxication anosognosia: The spellbinding effect of psychiatric drugs. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 201-215. Simultaneously published in the International Journal of Risk and Safety and Medicine, 19, 3-15, 2007.
- Breggin, P.R. (2004). Recent U.S., Canadian and British regulatory agency actions concerning antidepressant-induced harm to self and others: A review and analysis. International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine,16, 247-259.
- Breggin, P.R. (2003). Suicidality, violence and mania caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): A review and analysis. International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 16, 31-49.
- Breggin, P.R. (2000). The NIMH multimodal study of treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A critical analysis. International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 13,15-22.
- Breggin, P.R. (2000). What psychologists and psychotherapists need to know about ADHD and stimulants. Changes: An International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy,18,13-23.
- Breggin, P.R. (1999). Psychostimulants in the treatment of children diagnosed with ADHD: Risks and mechanism of action. International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 12, 3-35.
- Breggin, P.R. (1999). Psychiatry's reliance on coercion. Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 1(2), 115-8. PMID 15586456
- Breggin, P.R. (1998). Psychotherapy in emotional crises without resort to psychiatric medication. The Humanistic Psychologist, 25, 2-14.
- Breggin, P.R. (1998). Analysis of adverse behavioral effects of benzodiazepines with a discussion on drawing scientific conclusions from the FDA's spontaneous reporting system. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 19(1), 21-50.
- Breggin, P.R. (1998). Electroshock: Scientific, ethical, and political issues. International Journal of Risk & Safety In Medicine 11:5-40, 1998.
- Breggin, P.R. (1994). Should the use of neuroleptics be severely limited? Controversial Issues in Mental Health, edited by S.A. Kirk and S.D. Einbinder, pp. 146–152.
- Breggin, P.R. (1993). Parallels Between Neuroleptic Effects and Lethargic Encephalitis: The Production of Dyskinesias and Cognitive disorders. Brain and Cognition 23:8-27, 1993. PMID 8105824
- Breggin, P.R. (1992). A Case of Fluoxetine-induced Stimulant Side Effects with Suicidal Ideation Associated with a Possible Withdrawal Syndrome (‘Crashing’). International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine 3:325-328, 1992
- Breggin, P.R. (1990). Brain damage, dementia and persistent cognitive dysfunction associated with neuroleptic drugs: Evidence, etiology, implications. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 11(4), 425-464.
- Breggin, P.R. (1986). Neuropathology and cognitive dysfunction From ECT (Electroconvulsive/"shock" therapy). Psychopharmacology Bulletin , 22, 476-479.
- Breggin, P.R. (1982). The return of lobotomy and psychosurgery. Reprinted in R.B. Edwards (ed.): Psychiatry and Ethics. Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1982. Published earlier in Quality of Health Care-Human Experimentation: Hearings Before Senator Edward Kennedy's Subcommittee on Health, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., US Government Printing Office, 1973.
- Breggin, P.R. (1982). Coercion of voluntary patients in an open hospital. In R.B. Edwards(ed): Psychiatry and Ethics. Prometheus Books, 1982. Reprinted from Breggin, P.R. (1964). Archives of General Psychiatry, 10, 173-181. PMID 14081584
- Breggin, P.R. (1981). Madness is a surrender of free will; therapy too often encourages it. A libertarian view of psychology and psychiatry. The Psychiatric Quarterly, 53(1):60-8. PMID 7255624
- Breggin, P.R. (1980). Brain-disabling therapies. In E. Valenstein (ed.), The Psychosurgery Debate, W.H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 1980.
- Breggin, P.R. (1975). Psychosurgery for the Control of violence: A critical review. In W. Fields and W. Sweet (eds.), Neural Bases of Violence and Aggression, Warren H. Green, Inc., St. Louis, MO, 350-378.
- Breggin, P.R. (1975). Psychosurgery for political purposes. Duquesne Law Review, 13(4), 841-62. PMID 11661268
- Breggin, P.R. (1975). Psychiatry and psychotherapy as political processes. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 29(3), 369-82. PMID 1163692
- Breggin, P.R. (1974). Underlying a method: is psychosurgery an acceptable treatment for "hyperactivity" in children? Mental Hygiene, 58(1), 19-21. PMID 11662144
- Breggin, P.R. (1974). Therapy as applied utopian politics. Mental Health and Society, 1(3-4), 129-46. PMID 4619904
- Breggin, P.R. (1973). The second wave. Mental Hygiene, 57(1), 10-3. PMID 11664197
- Breggin, P.R. (1972). The politics of therapy. Mental Hygiene, 56(3), 9-12. PMID 5070420
- Breggin, P.R. (1971). Psychotherapy as applied ethics. Psychiatry, 34, 59-75. PMID 5541631
- Breggin, P.R. (1965). The sedative-like effect of epinephrine. Archives of General Psychiatry 12:255-259. PMID 14246173
- Breggin, P.R. (1964). The psychophysiology of anxiety; with a review of the literature concerning adrenaline. Journal of Nervous Mental Diseases 139:558-568. PMID 14243200
External links
- Breggin.com - Dr. Breggin's homepage
- ICSPP.org - International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, founded by Dr. Breggin
- Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education & Living
- The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour - Dr. Breggin's weekly internet radio broadcast on the Progressive Radio Network